So I've got two weeks, Saturday to Sunday inclusive, off work and am meeting a friend Sunday night (9/2) at the KOA in Cortez, Colorado. Prior to my departure early Saturday morning from West-Central Indiana I've got a gig at a blues club in Bloomington, Indiana, with Dicky James and The Blue Flames. I could really stand to leave Friday night and maybe dodge some of the remnants of Hurricane Isaac as I head West, but that's not gonna happen. I make an executive decision to, *sigh*, haul the bike to my sister's place in Abilene, Kansas, and ride from there. It's a good plan and at my age I don't have much to prove to anybody and will happily begin the trip dry.

It's a bit disconcerting to look in the mirror and see this.

I get to her place and we have a good late lunch together.

I go to work swapping out my front tire (I did the rear Friday instead of eating lunch) and now have a fresh set of D606 shoes. I beat feet to Wakeeny, Kansas, to meet this guy..

I need food and hit the quickest place I see for a filet-o-fish. I walk out of the restaurant to see a pre-teen run away from the bike as his friend across the parking lot is yelling something, most likely a warning that I'm coming outside. I ride away and the shifter feels distinctly vague and unright. Looks like junior used it for a footpeg and broke it. On a Sunday in the middle of Labor Day weekend.

Thus far, the trip is not the stuff of fantasy but it's okay. These are just a couple of burbles.

I post a troll for some assistance in the Rockies regional forum and get to slapping some Water Weld (similar to JB Weld) on it..

Before not very long, wzd1a shoots me an offer of a free shifter if I'm willing and able to make it to his place up the highway a bit. I figure I'll give it a shot and hit the road. I'm *very* gentle shifting gears and spend quite a bit of time in 2nd enroute to I-25. Once on the Interstate I realize I needed to stop for fuel, so of course I tempt fate by exiting and shifting. It all goes swimmingly though, and soon enough the free shifter awaits just over the next hill (literally). I stop to check my directions and the bike goes completely dead. Completely. Nothing. WTF?

And then I notice that weather's rolling-in. Brilliant.

I call my wife and tell her to come get me. She suggests I call my very-actually-nearby shifter source and relate my predicament. I tell her there's no way I'm going to inflict myself upon him like this. He's expecting a guy to ride up and leave with a shift lever, not a guy almost getting there but needing a ride and some troubleshooting and who knows what else and then a gifted shift lever. I give-in and call. Zack drives over the hill to get me. Lightning strikes just up the hill and we load the bike (with the help of a passer-by) into his truck in a driving rain. *sigh*

Zack gets me sorted (the battery chose that time and place to "let go" so I bought a new one) and the shifter installed and off I go into the Colorado night. Passing motel after motel, the decision is made to stop at the next one. Some miles later, and by now way up into the mountains on I-70, I pull off to check the phone for options. The chin-bar of my Nolan helmet comes off in my hand. I manage to get it to close again and eventually find a place to end today's excitement, just across the street from a McDonalds..

Last night I was scheduled to meet my friend Neil in Cortez. I didn't make it, so today we're hoping to rendezvous in Grand Junction. I'm a bit ahead of schedule, so I try to grab a quick power-nap just East of town.

The nap doesn't happen (too much caffeine, and I'm excited about the trip) so on into town it is. We meet, strategerize a bit and head for the Colorado National Monument just outside of Fruita to setup camp...

I had a gig Friday night in Bloomington (Hoosier territory) with Dicky James and The Blue Flames, and consequently everything up to now had felt a bit rushed. My last minute prep-time was squandered playing music. I suppose there are worse ways to spend a Friday evening..

Anyway, it felt good to be out West, on the KLR and with only a short-list ahead of me. I needed to replace that rear tire and pickup a helmet in the morning, and surely Grand Junction is as good a place as any to find what I need in-stock somewhere after a long holiday weekend..